Localization

Thank you for your interest in the localization part of the WiX project.

The bulk of the work, the actual development to allow WiX 2.0 and later 3.0 to support easy localization was done by Bob Arnson. My task is to co-ordinate you folks participating in the actual translation of the strings that will appear in localized installation packages.

Languages supported

The following table is based on the languages originally included in the Windows Installer SDK. The list of languages is not exhaustive at all: feel free to suggest any other language if you are willing to do the localization.

* We also offer alternative, cleaner, more fluent, easier-to-understand translations instead of some localization files in the released package. They differ in some places from the usual wording used by Microsoft in their installations but, in our personal opinion, they use simpler and better language. You are completely free to check them out and decide which one you want to use in your install packages.

The legend for the Status column:

Status

Description

open

still unaccounted for, ready to be picked up

in progress

somebody has already started working on it

halted

somebody has already started working on it but I haven't seen any progress lately; if you're willing to contribute, I can direct you to the original translator and you can ask him whether you both could co-operate or, if she or he doesn't have the time or interest any more, you could take it over

outdated

we have a translated localization file but there were some recent changes in WixUi that would necessitate some reworking of these files. The original translators were contacted but no reply came in yet. If you're willing to contribute, I can direct you to the original translator and you can ask him whether you both could co-operate or, if she or he doesn't have the time or interest any more, you could take it over

finished

the localization file is already translated but it can't yet appear in the release because either the translator hasn't yet signed the required assignment agreement with Microsoft or the process is still under way; but this language will probably appear in a coming release all right. Until then, you can download them from here as a user-to-user contribution but if you happen to know the language and find some errors in the translation, do report it back to me so that the original translator can be contacted and the best translation found

released

the localization has been done, the legal agreement has been signed and processed and the file is in the released package (but note that sometimes it might take some time for it to appear in the stable version on the main download page, so you might need to look for it in the weekly releases.)

Does my language need to be localized?

If it appears as released in the version 3 Status column, it's already in the toolset, just use it, there is nothing else to do. If it appears there as finished, you will find the link in the File column to the language file you can download and use it until the language officially appears in the toolset. If the version 3 status is in progress, you can still hope it will be finished soon...

If you don't see any reference but open for version 3, check the previous column. If it was released in version 2, you can download the source and find the .wxl file inside. If the version 2 status says finished, the file will be right here for you to download. In both cases, the old version has to be updated in order to work with version 3. We did contact the original translator but no reply came.

If the language is still open for both versions, nobody has started to work on it yet. The details of what to do are outlined in the following section.

If you feel you are willing to contribute or have any question regarding the project, contact me. Tell me what language you're interested in.

What about extensions?

There are more localizable strings in WiX than just the user interface. Various extension modules often have their own strings. They should be localized as well. Either you are the original translator of any language, or somebody willing to contribute, the original English file WixExt_en-us.wxl can be used to prepare the translated version. The process is the same as with the UI strings.